1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of solar heaters for elevating the temperature of water and more particularly, to a novel solar water heating apparatus having increased sun ray gathering or collecting capabilities.
2. Brief Description of the Piror Art
In the past, solar heaters have been provided for increasing the temperature of water for household use. Such previous heaters generally employ solar collectors such as flexible absorbing plastic material, plastic panels or the like. Prior art conventional solar heaters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,599,626; 3,467,840; and 3,466,119. Although these prior solar heaters do increase the temperature of water enclosed within the collector, a great portion of that heat energy is lost through the surrounding environment since some of the heat is reflected into the adjacent air and carried away by surface wind. Furthermore, the prior solar heaters do not take into account the movement of the sun during its daily travel about the earth. This travel directs the suns radiation at different angles to the solar collectors and inefficiencies in the heat transfer are encountered when the sun's rays are less than perpendicular or 90.degree. to the collector.
Another difficulty encountered with prior solar heaters and collectors residues in the fact that only one side of the collector is exposed to the sun's radiation and no means are provided for exposing the opposite side of the collector to the sun's radiation at the same time that the first or top side is exposed. Therefore, great inefficiencies are encountered with the systems since only one half of the collector is exposed to the sun's radiation at a time.
Therefore, a long standing need has existed to provide a novel solar heating system or apparatus which includes means for moving the apparatus to maintain the collector perpendicular respective to the sun's radiation and to provide a collector which exposes maximum surface area to the sun's radiation.